Day: May 16, 2018

  (c)Mateo Ivankovic 2017 May 17, 2018 Novena to the Holy Spirit – Day 7 Dear Family of Mary! Today we call upon the Holy Spirit to be our Guide. Jesus called the Spirit the Paraclete, which can be translated “The one who accompanies…” I like this idea. The Holy Spirit is so gentle and loving that we might not even realize He is with us. But He comes to guide us into holiness and God’s plan for us, if we will let Him. Our Lady lived a life of complete union with the Holy Spirit and so she knows how He operates. She wants us to be led by the Spirit too. Our Lady spoke about the guidance of the Holy Spirit: “Dear children! Today I call you, through prayer and sacrifice, to prepare yourselves for the coming of the Holy Spirit. Little children, this is a time of grace and so, again, I call you to decide for God the Creator. Allow Him to transform and change you. May your heart be prepared to listen to, and live, everything which the Holy Spirit has in His plan for each of you. Little children, allow the Holy Spirit to lead you on the way of truth and salvation towards eternal life. Thank you for having responded to my call.” (May 25, 1998) And St. Paul also lived by the guidance of the Holy Spirit. He wrote: But, as it is written, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man conceived, what God has prepared for those who love him,” God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. For what person knows a man’s thoughts except the spirit of the man which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is from God, that we might understand the gifts bestowed on us by God. And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who possess the Spirit. (1 Cor 2: 9-13) Cardinal John Henry Newman wrote a famous poem about the guidance of the Holy Spirit: Cardinal John Henry Newman (1801-1890) – Lead, Kindly Light Lead, kindly Light, amid the encircling gloom, Lead Thou me on! The night is dark, and I am far from home- Lead Thou me on! Keep Thou my feet; I do not ask to see The distant scene-one step enough for me. I was not ever thus, nor prayed that Thou Shouldst lead me on. I loved to choose and see my path; but now, Lead Thou me on! I loved the garish day, and, spite of fears, Pride ruled my will: remember not past years. So long Thy power hath blessed me, sure it still Will lead me on, O’er moor and fen, o’er crag and torrent, till The night is gone; And with the morn those angel faces smile Which I have loved long since, and lost awhile. In Jesus, Mary and Joseph! Cathy Nolan ©Mary TV 2018      

  (c)Mateo Ivankovic 2017 May 16, 2018| Novena to the Holy Spirit Day Six Dear Family of Mary! Today we consider the Holy Spirit as our Comforter and Strengthener. Our Lady encourages us to open our hearts to the Holy Spirit so He can transform us. The Holy Spirit will help us to call God our Father and make us capable of love! St. Paul in The Letter to the Ephesians says the very same thing, that through the Holy Spirit we will be strengthen in the inner man and we will be grounded in love. We need very much the strengthening and comforting love of the Holy Spirit, for we are naturally weak and lack the power to love on our own. Oh Comforter to thee we cry! Our Lady asked us to open our hearts to the Holy Spirit: “Dear children, Today I call you to open your hearts to the Holy Spirit and permit Him to transform you. My children, God is the immeasurable good and therefore, as a mother, I implore you: Pray, pray, pray, fast and hope that it is possible to achieve good, because from that good love is born. The Holy Spirit will strengthen that love in you and you will be able to call God your Father. Through this exalted love, you will truly come to love all people and, through God, you will regard them as brothers and sisters. Thank you.” (November 2, 2007) St. Paul prays that we might be strengthen by the Spirit in the inner man: For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with might through his Spirit in the inner man, and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have power to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. (Eph 3: 14-20) Let us pray through this wonderful hymn to the Holy Spirit: Come, Holy Ghost, Creator blest, And in our souls take up your rest; Come with your grace and heavenly aid To fill the hearts which you have made. O Comforter, to you we cry, O heavenly gift of God Most High, O fount of life and fire of love, And sweet anointing from above. You in your sevenfold gifts are known; You, finger of God’s hand we own; You, promise of the Father, you Who do the tongue with power imbue. Kindle our senses from above, And make our hearts overflow with love; With patience firm and virtue high The weakness of our flesh supply. Far from us drive the foe we dread, And grant us your peace instead; So shall we not, with you for guide, Turn from the path of life aside. Oh, may your grace on us bestow The Father and the Son to know; And you, through endless times confessed, Of both the eternal Spirit blest. Now to the Father and the Son, Who rose from death, be glory given, With you, O holy Comforter, Henceforth by all in earth and heaven. Amen. In Jesus Mary and Joseph! Cathy Nolan ©Mary TV 2018